Tile has become a popular choice for use in floors, walls, countertops, and the like. Both professional tile installers and do-it-yourselfers spend a great deal of time aligning and leveling tiles as the tiles are being placed on a substrate's surface. Proper alignment and leveling of each tile is important for a number of reasons. One reason is that if one tile is improperly placed, the error will continue in adjacent tiles such that the installation will be unacceptable and the tiles will have to be replaced and/or ground and polished until the tiles are level or flat. In addition to aesthetic reasons, a level surface is important in tile floors so that people do not trip and fall on unevenly laid tiles. Replacing or otherwise correcting errors in tile installation takes time that adds to the total cost of the installation.
Laying and leveling tile can also be problematic because tiles can shift and sink into mortar as the mortar dries, making it necessary to continually monitor newly laid tiles as the mortar dries to ensure that the tiles remain level. This can be very time consuming and frustrating for an installer. Tile installers have used a variety of devices and methods to maintain quality tile installation while completing the installation process. However, conventional devices and techniques are labor intensive, expensive, time consuming, complicated, and do not always work properly.
There is thus a need for a method and system for leveling tiles that is versatile, reusable, reliable, and fast.